Audax rides

I will gladly accept your offer off lift to the start.
Petrol money will be provided :)
Did not fancy an 30km ride to the start and then do my first 300.

@The_Seldom_Killer I might get a ride report done at some stage but thanks for organising the Dean.

Anyone know what the deal is with closed events? How likely is it I'll be able to enter a ride that's full? Are they strict on numbers?

Contact organiser of the event, they might have a waiting list and inform of any dropouts etc. but I think it's all up to the individual not standard policy...

Figured. Thanks.

What should I be looking at for a decent quality but cheap dyno hub and front light to pair it with?

Going for a 300 in april, did OK on a 200 with batteries (sort of) but thinking I might struggle on this one.

Ok no problem- sent you a PM

I already have the day off for YAHV (yet another hospital visit). I could probably fit both in...
http://www.willesdencyclingclub.co.uk/boulters-bask-110k-audax/

I DNS'd the ride on Saturday in the end. Was all set up to go, got to bed early and then slept very badly. Woke up at 01:00 with hot flushes. When the alarm sounded at 04:00 I turned it off and woke again at 07:00. Texted the organiser that I wouldn't make it. Slept again till 10:00. On Sunday I felt even worse. Took Monday and Tuesday off to recover. Don't feel bad about the DNS.

3Down?

Sounds like a good DNS.

I was thinking the same earlier this year when I did the Willy Warmer and built up an entry level Shimano 3N-71 on a used rim. The hub was 25.00 brand new posted. Got a B & M Cyo from Bike24 in Germany for 40.00 euros. Been totally solid irrespective of price. Does the job very well indeed. I'm upgrading though and am waiting for a SON delux hub to arrive. You're welcome to borrow / buy the wheel. Are you doing the Green and Yellow Fields? I'm on that one.

Might be interested in the wheel but got an open pro rim lying about to use anyway so will depend on price (and postage as I live in manchester unfortunately so might not be worth it). Also would be interested to know why you decided to upgrade?

How have you found the light? It says "optimised near-field illumination (1-4 metres in front of the bike)" which doesn't sound that great...

I going for the "Plains" 300 which is basically from Stockport across cheshire to wales and back, nice and flat! Would consider riding it fixed but will be riding with my roadie pal who will probably want to go faster than I can comfortably handle on 49/19 a lot of the time.

If you don't get anything sorted before the 18th I have some Exposure lights you could borrow which should give you 12 hours of illumination or more. Can't make it to that ride unfortunately :(

Ok cool, will try to get a dynamo set up sorted before then but if not that would be very handy.

There's nothing inherently wrong with the hub but it is a bit on the heavy side. I wanted to go entry level to start with just to try out dynamo lights. Now that I have there is no looking back. I first thought about just keeping this hub and putting a new rim on it so bought a new open pro as it has the same ERD as the used Planet X rim that I built it up with. Then I thought about getting an SP hub which was just under a hundred. But I got the opportunity to get a new SON hub at a very reduced price of just over a hundred so I went for it.

I've found that the Cyo lights up the road very adequately but then I have nothing to compare it with as that is the only light I've ever used along unlit country lanes. The Garmin shows me the bends and curves whereas the light shows me the road surface. I can feel almost as confident as in daylight with it even on a fast ish descent. It was also an entry level decision but as I'm happy with its performance I don't think I'm going to upgrade and have bought the same one for my other geared bike.

If you already have a brand new rim then you could get this same hub from Merlin cycles on ebay for 25.00 and build yourself up a nice wheel. I could let my wheel go for 35.00 I guess but then yeah, postage may be around 10 - 15. Not sure. So probably not worth it.

Wormingford Dragon.

140 entries for the Green and Yellow Fields 300. Reading the bumpf it says 'x' rated and experienced riders only. Blimey. Now I'm scared. I'll need to strap a load flabjacks round myself midnight express style.

Thanks for your help Arup. The performance of the light sounds encouraging. I reckon I will buy one of those and then have a think about hubs and check my funds. I sort of feel that if its just down to weight then I will go for one of the cheaper hubs. But you have also got me thinking about a garmin, I used a routesheet on the 200 I did, but it got a little tricky in the dark (only a few hours), a whole night of that might be challenging to say the least.

Green and Yellow Fields 300

"The ride itself was not meant to be particularly challenging or over difficult terrain. The overall climb was just about 1000 m, which is rather flat, given the distance. The only problem would be riding through the whole night, and into a great deal of the second day."
http://machacasonwheels.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/ride-report-green-yellow-fields-300-km.html

.......and the fact they traditionally have a curry before the start!!!!!

Well, it's dinner isn't it? Sounds like a nifty way of getting in some night riding.

That bloke should have done more raving when he was younger.

Quite fancy the curry. But then I'm wondering how many people the restaurant can hold. On LOL there were 157 entries and 119 showed up. If this one has 140 entries then around a 100 will turn up I guess. Not all will go for the curry but I'm sure a significant number fancy the idea. Add to the that the Friday night Manningtree punters. Had a look on the map and there are plenty of other places. May have to create or join a splinter cell.

As it's a night time ride local residents may notice, "Lycra clad burglars caught emptying their fridge."

I guess i'm forgetting it is usually the 8 pints consumed with that means I feel rough the next day

Hydration is important!